Record-card-controlled statistical machine



June 12, 1934. KEEN 1,962,743

RECORD CARD CONTROLLED STATlSTiCAL MACHINE Filed April 4, 1929 2Sheets-Sheet l June 12, 1934. KEEN 1,962,743

RECORD CARD CONTROLLED STATISTICAL MACHINE Filed April 4, 1929 2 sheetssheet 2 llll Patented June 12, 1934 UNITED STATES 1,962,743RECORD-CARD-CONTROLLED STATISTICAL MACHINE Harold Hall Keen, Letchworth,England, assignor, by mesnc assignments, to International BusinessMachines Corporation,

New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application April 4, 1929, Serial No. 352,454

In Great Britain April 5, 1928 3 Claims. (Cl. 235-92) certain field ofsuccessive record-cards, for the purpose of bringing about automaticallya change in the operation of the machine when the holes in twosuccessive cards do not agree.

The customary form of such automatic contro device comprises essentiallytwo card-reading devices arranged to read corresponding points on eachtwo successive cards simultaneously, a circuit containing bothcard-reading devices in series, and an electromagnet in the circuit. Ifthere is a hole in the same position in both cards being read, thecircuit is completed and the electromagnet is energized; if the holes inthe two cards are in different positions the circuit is not completedand the electromagnet is not energized. Such non-energization is madeuse of to bring about a change in the operation of the machine, normaloperation being maintained by the periodic energization of theelectromagnet.

Another form of automatic-control device, an example of which isdescribed in British patent specification No. 250,953, comprises twocircuits in parallel, each containing one of the two cardreadingdevices, and electromagnetic devices, one in each circuit, which opposeone another-that is to say if both are energized, no efiect will beproduced, but if either is energized alone a suitable member will beactuated to bring about a change in the operation of the machine.

The series-circuit arrangement first referred to necessitates a separateelectromagnet for every card-column which it is desired to use forautomatic control.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide anautomatic-control device which has the two card-reading devices inseries but which nevertheless has the advantage that only oneelectromagnet is required for several card-columns.

According to the present invention the automatic-control devicecomprises two card-reading devices connected in series and a shuntcircuit across one of the card-reading devices which shunt circuitcontains the winding of an operating electromagnet and has a higherresistance than the part of the series circuit which is shunted.

It will be evident that if the same hole is present in both cards,current will flow through the series circuit, but only a very smallcurrent, insumcient to energize the electromagnet, will flow through theshunt circuit. If, however, two cards are compared which have holes indifierent positions, a stage will be reached when there is no hole atthe shunted card-reading device while a hole is being read by the other.Under these conditions current will flow through the shunt circuit, thelow-resistance alternative circuit being broken by the material of thecard, and the operating electromagnet will be energized.

Preferably the shunted card-reading device is that one which first readsany card.

When it is desired to use more than'one column for automatic control,the several series circuits are connected in parallel and the severalhigh- 6 resistance shunt circuits are'also connected in parallel to acommon lead which contains the winding of the operating electromagnet.

When the automatic-control mechanism is of a dual or multiple character,two or more different kinds of card-groups being dealt with concurrentlyas explained in British patent specification No. 254,761, there are twoor more operating electromagnets each capable of being connected to anyone or more of the high-resistance shunts in common.

Preferably the operating electromagnet (or each one) is in the form of aseries relay which when energized closes a separate operating circuitthrough its winding containing an electromagnetic device which itselfcauses the machine to change its mode of operation, and means may alsobe provided for concurrently closing a shunt around the operatingelectromagnet, whereby it receives current only through the firstunpaired hole in any control column, that is to say a hole in the firstof two cards which is not present in the other, any subsequent unpairedhole or holes which may occur in another column or columns on the samecard merely increasing the current through this shunt instead of throughthe electromagnet winding, which however remains energizgd by thecurrent in the separate circuit aforesai Two alternative forms of theinvention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a circuit-diagram of a record-cardcontrolled statisticalmachine embodying one form of the invention,

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a modified form of theinvention, and

Figure 3 is a-front elevation of a part of the machine showing the meansfor automatically operating a counter-resetting clutch.

Referring first to Figure 1, the machine is of the well-known Hollerithtype having two rows of card-reading brushes one above the other, fourof the upper brushes being shown at 10 and four no of the lower at 12.The counter-circuits, printing magnet circuits and total-taking circuitshave been omitted as they are sufilciently well known, for example fromBritish patent specification No. 190,144.

Current is supplied to the various circuits from two lines 14 and 16 ofopposite polarity. The main driving-motor TM is in a circuit extendingbetween the points 18 and 20, and this circuit includes stop-keycontacts 24, normally closed relay contacts 26, upper card-levercontacts .28, a series-relay winding 32 in series with startingkeycontacts 34 and the card-feed clutch-magnet 36 shunted by cam-contacts38. The operation of this circuit is well known and will not be furtherdescribed herein, but it will be understood that if the contacts 26 areopened by the energization of the relay winding 27 (hereinafter referredto as the motor-control relay) the motor circuit will be broken at theend of the cycle by the opening of cam-contacts 22 in a shunt across thecontacts 26. The breaking of this circuit automatically brings about theprinting of a total, and the resetting of the counter from which thetotal is taken, in a manner well understood and therefore needing nofurther description.

The upper and lower card-reading brushes 10 and 12 which are to be usedfor automatic control are connected individually in series by wires 40each of which contains a resistance 42 of about 3000 ohms. Thecontact-bar 11 with which the upper brushes 10 cooperate is connected tothe line 14 at 44 through cam-contacts 46 which open automaticallyduring the times that the gaps be-- tween cards are passing the brushes.The lower contact-bar 13 is connected to the point 20 through the lowercard-lever contacts 30 and the relay contacts 26, the stop key contacts24, and certain cam contacts. A rotary current-interrupter 48 isprovided which closes the circuit just before each hole-position on acard reaches the brushes and opens it before the edges of the holesseparate the brushes from the contact-bar, thereby preventing sparkingat the brushes.

Each upper brush is shunted through a. resistance; 50 ofabout 4000 ohms.These shunts are connected individually to the wires 40 at pointsbetween the'resistances 42 and the upper brushes 10, and the parts ofthe brush circuits from these points to the point 44 have no appreciableresistance.

The resistances 50 are connected to a common lead 54 which is connectedto the point 44 through a relay winding 56 the contacts 58 of which areclosed by winding 56 and are in an operating circuit 60 extending fromthe point 44 through the winding 56, the contacts 58, a relay winding66, the motor-control relay winding 27, cam contacts 62 to the line 16.The common lead 54 also'contains a pair of normally-closed contacts 64which are opened by relay winding 66 which is in the circuit 60. Whenrelay winding 66 is energized, it closes contacts 64a thereby connectingthe resistances 50 and wire 54 directly to the line wire 14 through saidcontacts and a wire 68.

When cards are being compared by the cardreading devices, it is evidentthat if successive cards have the same control perforations the seriescircuits 40 will be completed and no appreciable current will flow inthe high-resistance shunts 50.

If the control perforations disagree, at some time in the cycle a holewill be present at the lower brushes while there is no hole at the upperbrushes. Hence current cannot flow through the low-resistance part ofone or more of the series circuits 40, and will therefore flow throughthe high-resistance shunt 50. The relay winding 56 will therefore beenergized, its contacts 58 will close and the motor-control relay 27will be energized thereby stopping the machine and causing a total to beprinted. At the same time, the relay contacts 64 will separate due toenergization of winding 66, and the current through the high-resistanceshunt 50 will be diverted through the contacts 64a and wire 68, therelay winding 56 nevertheless remaining energized because the1otperating circuit 60, now closed, extends through If control is beingeffected on several columns simultaneously several columns might changesimultaneously thereby sending an excessive current through the relaywinding 56. It is for the purpose of preventing possible damage owing tothis excessive current that the contacts 64 are provided. The purpose ofestablishing a shunting circuit around winding 56 through contacts 64aand wire 68, instead of only breaking the circuit, is to preventback-circuits.

The cam-contacts 62 are arranged to open once per cycle after the lasthole-position on a card has passed the reading-brushes, therebyde-energizing the magnets 27, 66 and 56 and returning the circuits totheir normal condition in readiness for the next card.

The form of the invention illustrated in Figure 2 is designed to securewhat is known as major and minor automatic control-that isto say,automatic control by two difierent categories of card-groups-asdescribed for example in British patent specification No. 254,761. Inthis kind of automatic control, a change of "minor group is to bringabout the printing of a total from one counter, while a change of majorgroup is to bring about the printing of a total from that same counterand also from another counter. In other words, whichever group changes,a "minor total is printed, but a major total is printed in addition ifthe major group changes.

The circuits are generally similar to those described with reference toFigure 1 but the operating circuit 60, the magnets 56, 66 and 27, thecontacts 58, 64, 64a, and the shunt 68 are duplicated, the duplicatedparts being designated by the same reference numerals with the additionof 0. Further, there are two pairs of normally-closed relay contacts 26,260 in series in the motor circuit under the control of the relaywindings 27 and 270 respectively.

The shunt-resistances 50, of which six are shown, are connected toplug-points 70 by means of which they may be connected in two separatesets (for example two sets of three each) one set to the lead 54 and theother to the lead 540.

It will be readily appreciated that if the control perforationsdisagree, in any one or more of the three columns a, b, c, the winding56 will be energized and the motor-control contacts 26 will be opened.If the control perforations in any one or more of columns d, e, Idisagree, the winding 560 will be energized and the motor-controlcontacts 260 will be opened. In either case, the

assumed that colums a, b, c are set apart for major group-controlperforations and columns d, e, f for minor group-control perforations.

Referring to Figure 3, '72 is the resetting shaft common to all thecounters, only one of which is shown. A gear-wheel '14 loose on theshaft meshes with the resetting gear-wheel '75 of the counter and isprovided with clutch-teeth 76. A collar 78 is fixed to the shaft '72 andcarries a pin 80 sliding freely in a hole in the collar. The pin isfixed to a clutch-member 82 free to slide on the shaft and adapted toengage the clutchteeth '76 although normally it is prevented from doingso by a spring 84. The clutch may be engaged by pushing the pin 80 tothe right by means of a sliding sleeve 86. This sleeve may be operatedmanually in a well known way and maintained in its clutch-engagingposition by a bayonet catch 88. The major total counter is left with itsclutch '76, 82 disengaged as shown in Figure 3, and the clutch isengaged at the proper time by means of an electromagnet 90 the armature92 of which has an extension 94 engaging in a circumferential groove inthe sleeve 86. The armature has fixed to it an arm 96 which when themagnet is energized closes a pair of contacts 98 in the total-printingcircuit for that counter.

The shaft 72 is driven by the resetting motor RM (Figure 2) the circuit100 of which contains normally-open contacts 102 which are closed whenthe card-feed clutch magnet 36 is de-energized, as clearly explained inBritish patent specification No. 190,144. This magnet is de-energized ona change of card-group, whether major or minor, as previously explained,and the result will be to start the resetting motor.

The counter (not shown) which is set apart for minor totals has itsclutch 76, 82 engaged manuallyand locked in engaged position. Thisresults in the total-printing contacts 98 of this counter being closedthrough the agency of the armature 92 and the arm 96. Consequently,whether the group-change is major or minor, this counter will be resetand the total standing thereon will be printed.

The winding of the magnet 90 of the major counter is in theresetting-motor circuit 100 and is provided with a short-circuitingshunt 104 in which are a pair of normally-closed contacts 106 of a relaythe winding 108 of which is in the operating circuit 60, which aspreviously explained is only closed when a major group change occurs.When this circuit is closed (thus causing the circuit 100 to be closed)the winding 108 will be energized, thus opening the contacts 106. Themagnet 90 will therefore be energized when the motor RM is startedautomatically in a wellknown way, thereby engaging the resetting clutchof the major total counter and closing its totalprinting contacts 98.Thus a major total will be printed in addition to the printing of aminor total when, and only when, a major groupchange occurs, the twototals being printed during the same printing cycle.

I claim:

1. In a record-card-controlled machine, an automatic-control devicecomprising in combination two electric card-reading devices connected inseries, a shunt circuit across one of the cardreading devices having ahigher resistance than the part of the series circuit which is shunted,

an operative electromagnet having its winding in said shunt circuit, andmeans controlled by said electro-magnet for controlling the operation ofthe machine.

2. In a record controlled machine, an automatic control system includinga pair of record analyzing devices for simultaneously analyzingsuccessive record cards, each of said analyzing devices includingswitching mechanism operable according to index points on records, aseries circuit connectingsaid switching mechanisms, a shunt around oneof said switching mechanisms, an electromagnet in said shunt and meanscontrolled by said electromagnet to modify machine operation.

3. In a record controlled machine, a pair of record analyzing mechanismsfor simultaneously analyzing successive cards of a group, each of saidanalyzing devices including a plurality of switching devices operatedaccording to index points on records, a plurality of series circuitsconnecting corresponding switching devices of the different analyzingmechanisms, a separate shunt circuit around each switching device of oneanalyzing mechanism, circuit with all of said shunts and a machinecontrol circuit controlled by said magnet.

HAROLD HALL KEEN.

a common electromagnet in

